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Great idea if my cat would go in it rather than lying on top of it

A while ago we were adopted by a cat who went from occasionally popping in for a visit before deciding he was staying and we could like it or lump it! Like most humans we do not own this cat rather we are owned by him but none the less we've slowly become quite attached to this ball of purrs, fluff, teeth and claws.

After commandeering a spot on the couch and refusing to move (if you move him he sits on top of you complete with 4 sets of claws digging in and head buts you till you give in) Likewise if you stealhis spot in front of the fire he'll just lie on top of you and he isn't the smallest cat in the world. Wedecided maybe we should buy him a bed of his own in the hope of occasionally getting the couch back

We had noticed that our cat loves cardboard boxes although it would seem his main intent is notto sleep in them preferring instead to use a box as a base for launching ninja attacks on any poorunsuspecting person or dog that touches the box. After he moved himself into a crisp box and actually slept in it when I came across the Trixie Minou Cat Cave I thought he would like it and at least it would look slightly better than a Walkers crisp box in my lounge.

The Minou Cat Cave is an igloo type cat bed which is oval in shape with a round opening for the cat to climb through. The cave is covered in a furry plush material with fluffy fur around the entrance anda soft furry interior with a plush cushion inside which is removable and can be hand washed. Ours is the brown and beige colour pictured above but it's also available in other colours including blue or pink and some patterned ones such as snow leopard or giraffe.

The Minou Cat Cave looks really cozy and looks ideal for giving your pet a little hiding place to sleepor just to escape the busy lifestyle of a cat which seems to involve play, eat, sleep repeat! The catcave is also suitable for small dogs although it might give them a complex if you tell them it's a catbed! When the Cat Cave arrived it was a little on the flat side but plumped up nicely into shape ready for testing by it's new owner.

Sadly despite my high hopes our cat did not really share my enthusiasm for his new bed aftersniffing around it and poking his head inside he wandered off and went to sleep on the couch. Thenext day I put a couple of treats in the cat cave to entice him but all he did was go in get the treatsand came straight back out again and the same happened when I put his catnip toy inside. After a week of ignoring the cat cave we eventually had a breakthrough and came downstairs to find ourbeloved furball lying curled up asleep on top of the now slightly squashed cat cave with a rather smug look on his face.

To it's credit the cat cave does plump up into shape again and maybe as it gets colder our cat willactually use it the way it's meant to be used but for now jumping on it and moving about til itflattens down a bit is as close as he gets. Our cat is also rather fond of attacking the fluffy furaround the entrance which has remained intact despite his best efforts at eating and clawing it.The Cat cave comes in 2 sizes either 35 × 26 × 41 cm or the larger 41 × 30 × 50 cm I chose the larger one as although our cat isn't fat he is huge compared to most cats I've seen and resembles a small dog in size. The large Cat Cave is easily big enough to accommodate him should he everchoose to actually go inside it and would probably be big enough for 2 average sized cats.

Overall the Cat Cave has been some success although if there is an empty box in his presenceour cat will choose that every time so basically I could have saved myself a fortune and left himwith his crisp box or commandeering the couch or fireplace which he still does anyway. My friendbought the same bed for her cat and he loves it so I'm beginning to think that my cat is eithersnobby and thinks a cat bed is beneath him (which it usually is after he flattens it)or he's too thick to realise it's a bed and he's meant to sleep in it not on it.

The Trixie Cat Cave is available from many larger pet stores and also from Amazon and Ebay withprices ranging from £18-£25 for the smaller one to £23-£30 for the large size.